Great Spiritual and Socially Path Breaking Leaders (Gurus) In 21st Century

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The book throws a bright light on various paths and options offered by the vast cultural heritage, ethos and traditions of India for the sake of spiritual development. It shares detailed information for various institutions including missions, meditation centres, foundations, ashrams, trusts, sects, yoga centres etc., that have been teaching the spiritual values successfully. Besides, the book provides various relevant details for these institutions including time of their establishment, founders, locations, strengths, gains (spiritual) for the investors etc., that might help those aiming to contact or visit these institutions for the spiritual upliftment.

ASHOK ANAND was born at Dehradun in a family with strong roots in the Vedic culture and keen leanings towards Arya Samaj movement inculcating its practical manifestation in the people's day to day lives.

Leading a Spartan and disciplined life from his early years, Anand grew up to be a highly conscious person with strong inclinations towards social causes. To earn a living, he went on to join the Central Government of India a few years after completion of his studies and retired distinguishingly after serving it for nearly four decades.

He devoted his spare time to various social activities including founding a cultural club at Delhi, free distribution of medicine to slum dwellers, organising medical and blood donation camps, disbursement of the old age pension to the deserving in rural area, free distribution of the school books and uniforms to name only a few. One of the significant achievements of Anand's work includes the founding of "Ayudham Home for Aged and Infirm" with like-minded persons and serving the same for more than 25 years.

Besides, he has been visiting various national and international institutions helping the mankind to develop spiritually.

"Sarva Dharma Sama Bhava" meaning "all religions are same" or "respect for all religions in equal measures" is a uniquely Indian idea and is considered as an Indian philosophical contribution to the political thought. Before the idea gained fresh currency in the utterances of Mahatma Gandhi, its earlier proponents included such revered figure and great teacher as Rama Krishna Parma Hansa and his most famous disciple, the world-renowned religious thinker Swami Vivekananda.

These saintly luminaries were also invested in the idea that religions alone and equal respect for all religions, though rooted in the Indian ethos and culture, would not uplift the masses and if India was to propel itself to a world leadership position both in economic and spiritual spheres, it was required that in addition to the work-related knowledge for improving their economic conditions, the masses also needed to be disseminated spiritual knowledge so that they could have faith in themselves and set their moral compass to differentiate right from wrong in the real sense and that the route to both these types of knowledges was through education and establishment of institutions which could impart such knowledge and thus was established Ramakrishna Mission and many other followed.

I have been fascinated by such spiritual ideas which are uniquely Indian and are at the core of all round human development. Thus, in my quest for knowledge, for nearly 5 decades now, I have been visiting almost all the places in India which have spiritual or cultural significance. In the same vein, I have visited at length most of the Missions, Meditation Centres, Foundations, Ashrams, Trusts, Sects, Yoga Centres etc. which are culturally or spiritually significant and teach Indian values.

India that is Bharat Varsha is an ancient land and Indus Valley is one of oldest civilizations in the world with a cultural legacy spanning more than 5000 years. Many Sages, Swamis, Social Reformers & Gurus, Spiritual Leaders, Ayurvedcharyas, Astronomers & Mathematicians, Cosmologists, among other notables, have blessed this land by being born here and generation of Indians as also socially and spiritually inclined citizens the world-over with different religious beliefs and backgrounds benefitted and continue to do so from their pathbreaking work and teachings in various fields of human development.

These notables were at the forefront of spreading Vedic Culture in Sanatana (eternal) tradition, describing the duties of Hindus based on the teachings from the Vedas, Upanishads, Puranas etc, in what could be considered perhaps as the oldest spiritual expression known to mankind. The aforesaid Spiritual Leaders or more appropriately "the Gurus", have been one of the most prominent and common thread with which the garland of our long cultural history has been woven. The teachings of these Gurus spanned an eco-system which was conducive to the birth of various uniquely Indian systems which contributed to the well-being of human beings in general and a Hindu way of life in particular.